traded a used, $250 practice amp for my '69 Sunburst (stripped it in the early '70's)
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$how your bargain bass buys!
- Thread starter ghostinthemach
- Start date
Jay Turser, mahogany body with a thin maple cap, great neck, frets like a mirror, no sharp edges, beautifully made and sounds better than $1000 basses I have heard and played. I think it was like $260 or so but it has been a long time since I bought it, around 2004 I think. I suspect I could have gotten it cheaper but the salesman played me.
Just an ok deal on a mint VM jaguar at local GC For $167 total.
Found a better deal on a VM jazz for $110 at a pawn shop. MG cases at MF were on sale for $69.95.
They don't have pawn shops like this in the Northeast!
I picked up this '94 mim P-bass along with an MXR DI/OD pedal for $125. The bass came with Dimarzios installed but the wiring was wonky & it had a horrible red mother of pearl pick guard. I installed a 3-ply b/w/b pickguard, a Fender high-mass bridge & had it re-wired with a 3-way pickup selector & 1 tone & 1 volume knob. This baby plays & sounds great & is one of my main basses.
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Saving money is a popular theme here on TB. In fact, it's almost as popular here as spending money (almost).
It's great fun for me to ferret out buying opportunities that I recognize (IMHO) to be 'worth more than that'.
My first examples are from my local music store. Won't mention a name but the initials are GC:
1999 Suhr era MIM Deluxe Jazz $179.00
View attachment 2796476
Brice fretless active/passive 5 string plays great-amazing neck $179.00
View attachment 2796478
Cort fretless with wenge neck, Bartolini licensed Mk1 system and pups, 'fortress bridge' (this is a main player for me now) $299.00
View attachment 2796480
Yes I know you get what you pay for the vast majority of the time, but each of these is worth more than I paid to me and sometimes that translates to a more universal agreement. What say ye (?)
Show us some bargains to haggle over. Include why it's a bargain to you.
I have made improvements to these basses after purchase costing $0-70.00 max.
Saving money is a popular theme here on TB. In fact, it's almost as popular here as spending money (almost).
It's great fun for me to ferret out buying opportunities that I recognize (IMHO) to be 'worth more than that'.
My first examples are from my local music store. Won't mention a name but the initials are GC
1999 Suhr era MIM Deluxe Jazz $179.00
View attachment 2796476
Brice fretless active/passive 5 string plays great-amazing neck $179.00
View attachment 2796478
Cort fretless with wenge neck, Bartolini licensed Mk1 system and pups, 'fortress bridge' (this is a main player for me now) $299.00
View attachment 2796480
Yes I know you get what you pay for the vast majority of the time, but each of these is worth more than I paid to me and sometimes that translates to a more universal agreement. What say ye (?)
Show us some bargains to haggle over. Include why it's a bargain to you.
I have made improvements to these basses after purchase costing $0-70.00 max.
My 1975 Fender Precision, bought from a guitar player friend in 1978 for $200.00. Bass has maple neck, DiMarzio pick-ups, bad ass bridge and a plate that I had to replace after stepping on my cord across the stage and pulling the pick guard and jack off. This bass has served me well over the years has great tone and I call it my 70's funk machine.
I bought my '65 Jazz Bass in 1977 for $350 and it included a Bassman Amp with 2x12. I still have the bass (only changes are a new nut, all three pots and a rewound bridge pickup) but the amp is long gone. The photo is from a gig in 1978 with the surf band I was in during high school.
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I bought this old korean built Ibanez SR400 this weekend for the equivalent of 100 american dollars. Maybe not a super cheap score, but compared to how this bass plays and and feels I'm super happy. It's on the same terms as my MIA P-bass that cost waaay more.
Picked up this Squier VM Cabronita off CL this past weekend. Didn't even try to haggle him down from the $120 asking price. Mint condition but crappy rounds on it. I was going to throw a set of strings on and flip it for some cash but I like the way it plays so much I decided to keep it.
a fellow bass player bought this for a project. the project was cancelled a few days later. he never used it besides a couple of rehearsals. he called me a couple of months later and asked me if i wanted it. i actually wanted this one myself so i bought it from him, with a soft case for 250 euros (289 usd)... it's price new today is 642 euros (744 usd)
this is a brand new, unused ibanez artcore vintage bass guitar
Just scored a Hartke 5 String. One of the Original All Black 5 Strings that used to retail for about $3-400.00, not the nightmarish ones in the $100 starter kit. $85----and it sounds very good. The best part is how fun it is to play. My other basses are set up for precision work, but this one, though it may never ever make it into the studio, or do a corporate gig, has just enough slop in it to be fun. I feel like a little kid again. It reminds me of my old Hagstroms for some reason---must be the slick and relatively skinny neck as compared to my others..
Travis Bean TB2000. 15 years ago and $125 in a Tucson pawn shop. One pup was dead. Sold that one a few years later and paid six times as much for this one. My ears miss it but my back doesn't.
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I had a TB in the 70’s when they debuted. It served as a transition between Gibsons and Fender. I wasn’t in love with the tone, but the final straw was the aluminum neck discoloring from a reaction with the moisture on my hand.
Traded for a Fender.
